Undergarment



June 19, 1956 M. HOLLINGER UNDERGARMENT Filed Aug. 24, 1954 INVENTOR.MAX HOLL/N6ER ATTORNEY United States Patent UNDERGARMENT Max Hollinger,Port Chester, N. Y.

Application August 24, 1954, Serial No. 451,823

3 Claims. (Cl. 2--113) The present invention relates generally toundergarments, and is particularly directed to undershirts of the typeknown as T-shirts.

Many men, for example, those in the priesthood, ministry, judiciary oracademic world, are required, on formal occasions, to wear heavy outergarments, robes or vestments which cover all of the body and fit closelyaround the neck with only a starched white collar showing thereabove.The exposed collar is either fixedly attached to a fabric shirt or, ifremovable or detachable from the shirt, is held in place by collarbuttons securing the collar to the shirt. Since the shirt is completelycovered by the outer garment, robe or vestment, the shirt performs nofunction other than to secure the collar in position. In hot weather,the layer-on-layer of garments becomes oppressive, and it thereforebecomes desirable to eliminate all unnecessary garments.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provideundershirts, preferably of the type known as T-shirts, which are adaptedto have conventional detachable collars secured to the neckbandsthereof, thereby to make it possible for the wearer to dispense with theusual shirt worn beneath the outer garment, robe or vestment.

Although undershirts embodying this invention have obvious advantageswhen worn beneath covering outer garments, robes or vestments, it isalso apparent that such undershirts may be worn without a coveringgarment when the undershirt is otherwise obscured from view, forexample, by Catholic priests hearing confessions, so that the moistureabsorbent knitted fabric of the undershirt provides the sole coveringfor the torso to afford a high degree of comfort.

Another object of the invention is to provide an undershirt of thedescribed character wherein the neck-band of the undershirt is adaptedto withstand the added strains imposed thereon by the attachment of acollar thereto and will withstand repeated launderings withoutstretching out of shape.

In accordance with the invention, the above, and other objects andadvantages appearing in the following detailed description, are achievedby providing an undershirt, preferably of the type known as a T-shirtand having a knitted body, with a neck-band which is preferablyreinforced with nylon and has at least one button-hole therein toreceive a collar button for securing a detachable collar to theneck-band of the undershirt.

In order that the invention may be fully understood, illustrativeembodiments thereof are hereinafter described in detail and shown in theaccompanying drawings forming a part hereof, and wherein:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of an undershirt embodying this inventionwith a detachable collar secured to the neckband of the undershirt;

Fig. 2 is a front elevational view of the undershirt of Fig. 1, but withthe collar removed;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view along the line 3-3 of Fig. 2, but on anenlarged scale; and

2,750,595 Patented June 19, 1956 "ice Fig. 4 is a fragmentary frontelevational view of the upper portion of another undershirt embodyingthis invention.

Referring to the drawings in detail, and intially to Figs. 1, 2 and 3thereof, an undershirt embodying this invention is there generallyidentified by the reference numeral 10. The undershirt 10 includes abody portion 11 and sleeves 12 which are preferably formed of a knittedfabric so as to conform closely and comfortably to the contours of thewearers body and the body portion 11 is open at the bottom so that itmay be pulled over the wearers head in being donned or removed.Preferably, the knitted fabric of the body portion 11 and sleeves 12includes cotton as a substantial portion of the fibers thereof toprovide a desirably high rate of moisture absorption.

In accordance with the present invention, the neck opening 13 has aneck-band 14 extending there-around and secured to the edge of the bodyportion 11 defining the opening 13, with the neck-band 14 having atleast one buttonhole 15 extending therethrough at a central location inthe back portion of the neck-band.

In the embodiment of the invention shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3, the neckopening 13 is round or defines a crew neck, and a second button hole 16is centrally located in the front portion of the neck-band 14.Preferably, the neck-band 14 is formed of a knitted fabric which isreinforced With nylon filaments or yarns so that it will be capable ofwithstanding the added strains imposed thereon by attachment of a collarto the neck-band and repeated laundering without stretching out ofshape.

As seen in Fig. 3, the neck-band 14 is folded over the edge of bodyportion 11 around the opening 13 and is secured to the body portion bytwo parallel rows of stitching 17, while the button holes 15 and 16extend through both layers of the neck-band and are surrounded bystitching securing together the two layers of the neck-band around thebutton-holes.

A detachable collar 18, for example, a clerical collar, as shown in Fig.1, can be secured to the undershirt 10 by conventional collar buttons 19and 20 which respectively extend through the button-holes 15 and 16 ofneck-band 14 and then engage in the usual button-holes at the oppositeends and at the center of the collar 18. While a clerical collar havingits ends secured together at the back of the neck-band 14 has beenillustrated in Fig. 1, it is to be understood that any other detachablecollar can be secured to the undershirt 10 by collar buttons extendingthrough one or both of the button-holes 15 and 16. If desired, a falseshirt front or dickey (not shown) may be attached to the collar 18 sothat the undershirt 10 can be worn under a sack coat or the like whichwould otherwise expose a portion of the front of the undershirt.

In Fig. 4, another embodiment of the invention is illustrated andgenerally identified by the reference numeral 10a. The undershirt 10a isdistinguished from that described in connection with Figs. 1, 2 and 3only in that the neck-band 14a extends around a V-shaped neck open ing13a and has a button-hole 15a only in the rear portion of the neck-bandfor securing a detachable collar (not shown) to the latter. The form ofthe invention shown in Fig. 4 is useful when it is not necessary toanchor the collar at the front, as when, a false shirt front is attachedto the collar or the wearer will not be exposed to public view, forexample, in the case of a priest hearing confessions.

Although only two diiferent neck-band shapes have been illustrated inthe drawings, it is apparent that other variations in the shape of theneck-opening are possible.

From the foregoing, it is apparent that I have provided an undershirt towhich a detachable collar may be secured so that priests, ministers,jurists and the like, who are required to wear heavy robes or vestments,with only their collars exposed above such robes or vestments candispense with the usual shirts worn between their undershirts and outerrobes or vestments for the sole purpose of securing their collars inplace, and thereby achieve a higher degree of comfort in hot or humidWeather. Further, in the case of lay persons, the undershirts embodyingthis invention can be advantageously worn in connection with adetachable collar and false shirt front for dress or evening Wear, andthis use of the undershirts embodying the invention will be ofparticular advantage to actors and other performers who are required towork under heat emitting lights.

While illustrative embodiments of the invention have been described indetail and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, it is to beunderstood that the invention is not limited to those preciseembodiments and that various changes and modifications can be effectedtherein without departing from the scope or spirit of the invention asdefined in the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. An undershirt of a knitted fabric and comprising a body portionhaving sleeves extending therefrom and a neck opening, and a neck-bandextending around said opening and secured to the edge of said bodyportion defining said opening, said neck-band having at least one buttonhole extending therethrough each to receive a collar button for securinga detachable collar to the undershirt, said neck-band forming anelongated strip of nylon reinforced fabric folded on itself along alongitudinal medial line and embracing the edge of said body portionaround said neck-opening and stitching extending parallel to said edgesecuring said strip to said body portion and around each button hole tojoin the layers of said band together around the related button hole, soas to be able to withstand the strains resulting from the securing of adetachable button thereto and repeated laundering without departing fromits original shape.

2. An undershirt according to claim 1; wherein said neck-opening isround, and said neck-band has button holes therein at central locationsin the front and rear portions of the neck-band.

3. An undershirt according to claim 1; wherein said neck opening isV-shaped at the front, and said neck-band has a single button hole at acentral location in the rear portion of said neck-band.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS487,000 Auer Nov. 29, 1892 870,967 Ienne Nov. 12, 1907 2,686,318 MasonAug. 17, 1954

